Found this list. It is a bit dated, but it makes interesting reading. It gives a list of Ippons in Japanese High School & College Championships over a 10 year period. The number to the right of the throw indicates the number of ippons the throw registered. Interesting reading.

Found this list. It is a bit dated, but it makes interesting reading. It gives a list of Ippons in Japanese High School & College Championships over a 10 year period. The number to the right of the throw indicates the number of ippons the throw registered. Interesting reading.

I fully agree with that, and the same goes for all other arts as well (my experience of judo is near to zero). To me these lists don't show which throws work best; they show which throws the adequate situation arises most often for.

It certainly doesn't mean such lists are useless, though: if statistics show that the iron is a more common weapon in attacks than the toaster, it definitely pleads for working an extra bit on ones iron-defense techniques (doesn't mean that toaster-defense techniques are less effective though... Just than the need for them arises less often).

I'd like to point out that this is really more of a popularity contest than a true measure of effectiveness. It may be that some of the lower numbers are simply the result of a technique being less popular or less well known (or taught later only to higher belt ranks). You'd have to account for these other variables to ensure that you have a fair measure of effectiveness.